Background: A prevalent type of cancer in women's reproductive systems is serous ovarian carcinoma. Despite the advance in surgery and chemotherapy, the patient's prognosis is poor due to relapse and chemotherapy resistance. Therefore, we aim to assess the influence of EpCAM and SOX2 expression on tumor behavior and prognosis for improving outcomes and therapy.
Patients and Methods: The expression of EpCAM and SOX2 was evaluated immunohistochemically and also for SOX2 gene expression in 90 cases of ovarian serous carcinoma and their prognostic significance was evaluated.
Results: EpPCAM was statistically correlated with nodal metastases (P=0.002) and highly significant associated with advanced stage (P <0.001). Moreover, it was statistically associated with tumor size (P <0.001). High SOX2 nuclear expression was correlated significantly with high grade of the tumor (P=0.001), lymph-node involvement, and with advanced stage of tumor (P<0.001 for each). The study found that both EpCAM and SOX2 proteins were increased in aggressive ovarian cancers. EpCAM correlated with lymph node spread, larger tumors, and advanced stage. High SOX2 levels were linked to poor overall survival. EpCAM levels seemed to influence SOX2 expression.
Conclusions: EpCAM and SOX2 were overexpressed in ovarian serous carcinoma tissue and substantially related nodal metastasis, TNM stage and poor overall survival making them critical therapeutic targets and prognostic markers in ovarian cancer. The correlation between overexpression of EpCAM and SOX2 expression provides the path for further research into the molecular pathogenesis of tumor progression and the therapeutic target receptors.